Improvement in gates for turbine water-wheels



GEORGE W. RUSSELL AND CHARLES J. BRADBURY, OF LAWRENGE, MASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATES FOR TURBINE WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,739, dated January 16, 1872.

To all to whom these prcsnts may come:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. RUssELL and CHARLES J. BRADBURY, of Lawrence, in the county of Essex and Oommonwealth of Massachusetts, have made an invention of a new and useful Improvement relatin g to Turbine Water-Wheels; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, due reference being had to the accompaying drawing making part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical section of the fiume of a water-wheel embracing our improvements.

This invention relates to certain improvements in turbine water-wheels, whereby .the water in the flume and about the wheel, which is submerged in it, nay be removed, and the water outside shut off from further entrance to the flume and the wheel, the purpose of the invention being to avoid the labor and time now consumed in repairin g or inspecting waterwheels of the class to which our invention appertans. We are aware that this has been heretofore attempted, and we do not, therefore, claim, broadly, an arrangenient of devices for shutting oil' communication between the flume and race-way. Our invention consists in the conbination, with the flune, of a gate located below and coverng the bottom central opening of the same, and arranged so that in order to be opened it must be lowered away from the flume into the water in the race-way below. This arrangement of the gate is possessed of great advantage, as thereby the gate is under water, except at the immediate time its services are required, and ice is preventcd from forming or gathering about it so as to prevent it from being used.

The accompanying drawing represents atA the flume or well of a center-discharging turbine waterwheel, the shelf or floor constitut ing the bottom thereof, and separating it from the race-way B, being shown at G. D in the drawing represents the cylndrical casing or flange which constitutes the water dischargin g outlet of the fiume, and which contains and supports the step E, in which the shaft of the water-wheel is stepped, such casio g being up- 4 held above' the race-way by the floor U or by any other suitable support, which permits free` delivery through it of the Waste water.

In carrying our improvements into practice we employ a large flat disk or cap-plate, F, whose smallest diameter is somewhat larger than that of the dischargingmouth G of the casing I), and we dispose this disk or plate below the mouth, and attach to its circumference several rods, a a co, &(3., which extend upward through the flume and rise to such a position above the top of the latter as to be readilyac- -cessible These rods may vary in number, and may be operated in various ways, the mode herein shown, however, being to conduct them individually through colunns or posts b, erected upon the top of the flume, and screw upon their extremities a hand-wheel or nut, by which they may be raised or lowered, and with them the gate or disk F.

ln availing ourselves of our invention we first shut the head or inlet-gates which admit water to the fiune from the pen-stock. The rods a a a, &(3., are then to be raised until the gate or plate F abuts against and ei'ectually closes the lower or discharging mouth of the casing D, and by this means excludes water from the tlume or well from below. We next, by a pump or other means, exhaust the tlume of its contents of water, and the wheel remains exposed and accessible. In the present constructon and operation ofturbin e water-wheels, in which no p'rovision is made for exhausting the water from the flume or well in which the wheel wallows, it is a matter of much time, labor, and loss of money to carry out examinations or repairs, or to remove ice, stones, or obstacles of any nature which may find their way to the flume and injure or clog the wheel. In our present invention we find a remedy for these difficulties, and a simple, inexpensive, and efficient method of enabling access to be had to the wheel at any tine, and our invention will especially commend itself to papermanufacturers and mill-owners in general, to whom this specification is chiefly addressed, and who are aware of the nunerous delays and expenses attendant upon repairs of waterwheels at the present time. In some instances the casing D may not protrude below the floor C, andin such an event we should affix to the floor and circumscribing the discharging-outoutlet thereof an annular fiange, which would constitute a seat for the gate F, although if a sharp rib be formed upon the upper surface of the letter the annula` flange might be dispensed With.

We claim- The combinaton, With the flune or inclosng ease of a turbine Water-wheel, of a gate for closing water communication between the same and the race-way or discharge-s1uice,when said gate is located below and so as to cover the bottom central opening of the fiune or case,

and arranged to move toWa-rds or away from said opening, substanta-lly as herein shown and set forth.

Gr. W. RUSSELL.

CHARLES J. BRADBURY.

witnesses:

J. M. WHEATON, to G. W. B.

ABBOTT A. POOR. (168) 

